On whether Ricardo
Lamas drew the blueprint that Guida should follow against
Hioki: “I think there’s important similarities there that
Lamas figured out that we need to emulate. Clay is a different
fighter in some ways, but I think that when you see something that
works, you can say, ‘OK, parts of this worked. This part didn’t,’
and you can build on that for sure. But Clay is very unique, and
when Clay’s fighting at his best, he kind of fights almost the same
way every time with little, subtle differences, but we’ll
definitely be looking to put some pressure on in this fight.”

On “Cowboy” Cerrone vs. Pettis: “Cowboy is
certainly a little unique in the way he does his striking, and
we’ve seen how dynamic Pettis is. I don’t think it will be typical
anywhere. On the ground, on the feet, in the wrestling aspect -- I
don’t think it’s going to be a typical fight anywhere just because
both of these guys are so talented. It’s going to be one of those
fights where you have to fight for small things and try to get the
advantage where you can. It’s a real war. I’m really looking
forward to the fight. Pettis is amazing. He comes from a great
camp, and I think it’s going to be a hell of a fight.”

On whether Cerrone has prepared for Pettis’ unorthodox
attacks, like the “Showtime” kick: “The nice thing about
using the ‘Showtime’ kick -- and you never know if he’s got new
tricks or not -- but you know it’s coming. If he jumps up there,
Cowboy’s going to say, ‘OK, it’s going to come for the head,’ and
hopefully he’ll put his hand up or move out of the way. But
definitely, the amount of studying that Cowboy’s done -- he says,
‘Oh, I just get in there and fight,’ but he’s actually pretty smart
about what he does and I’m sure he’ll be ready for that. But for
me, it’s much more of what we can improve on in Cowboy’s game to
stop Pettis from kind of having his way. We focused a lot on
that.”

On Johnson-Dodson: “The speed is going to be a
factor, I think, for both guys. Understanding that that’s going to
be one of the defining things about the fight -- the pace and the
speed -- is very important for a game plan. We’re trying to get
John as squared away as we can in the time that we have, and he’s
looking really good. We know of course Demetrious will be very,
very ready. It’s going to be an interesting, heck of a fight. I
don’t know if the UFC has ever had two guys that quick fighting
each other before.”